Drive unit for yarn collecting apparatus



May 19, 1959 I E. K. BAUER 8 DRIVE UNIT FOR YARN COLLECTING APPARATUSFiled Dec. 21, 1954 l 2/ i 24' I925 w "3 1 will I l f l United StatesPatent ice FOR YARN COLLECTING. APPARATUS Ernest K. Bauer, Meadville,Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., incorporation of Delaware Application December 21, 1954, Serial No.476,723

DRIVEUNIT The present invention relates to a drive assembly for cap andtube type yarn collection assemblies for forming wound Yarn packages.

With such assemblies, the yarn is wound up on a rotating yarn collectiontube as the continuous yarn is traversed back and forth along the tubelength whereby the yarn is built up on the collecting tube in evenlayers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel driving unitfor rotating the tube in a cap and tube yarn collecting assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a cap and tube yarncollecting assembly, a novel and improved drive unit for rotating a yarncollecting tube positioned over the unit. The drive unit comprises adriven rotatable hub having a rim with a plurality of resilient ringsmounted on the rim structure. The rings are out of true driving orgripping engagement with the inner wall of the yarn collecting tube whenthe assembly is stationary but they expand when the hub is rotated, dueto the centrifugal force created, to tightly grip the inner wall of thetube to provide a driving connection with the tube wall.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study ofthe following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view, partially broken away and partially sectioned, of acap and tube yarn collecting assembly utilizing the drive unit of thepresent invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of a portion of the drive unit showing therotatable hub and its rim structure; and

Figure 3 is an end view of the drive unit showing the resilient driverings in their relaxed and expanded positions.

Briefly, my drive unit for a cap and tube type yarn collecting assemblycomprises a rotatable hub driven by a drive shaft. The hub has a rimwhich is divided into sections so that gaps appear between the rimsections. A plurality of resilient rings are positioned around the rimsections. End plates are affixed to the hub and extend beyond theperiphery of the rim structure to prevent the resilient rings fromsliding 011 the rim structure. The end plates are held in position byconnecting rivets which lie atop the resilient rings and extend throughthe gaps between the rim sections to depress the rings within the gapsand thereby retain the rings in place on the rim structure. The yarncollecting tube fits over the rings. When the assembly is at rest, theresilient rings are out of true driving or gripping engagement with theinner wall of the tube. When the hub is rotated, the resilient ringsexpand due to centrifugal force to tightly grip the inner surface of thetube to form a driving connection with the tube wall to rotate the yarncollecting tube.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 in particular, there is shown atypical cap and tube yarn collecting assembly 1. Except for the tubedriving unit A, the cap and tube assembly is of the type in generalcommercial use today. The cap and tube assembly 1 comprises gen-2,887,278 Patented May 19,1959

erally a stationary vertical shaft 3 upon which is mounted a stationaryhousing or cap 4. A rotatable drivesleeve or shaft 5 fits over thestationary shaft 3 and is driven by a motor positioned below theassembly (not shown) and mounted on a vertically reciprocal rail (notshown) whereby in addition to its rotating, the drive sleeve or shaft 5also reciprocates vertically within the stationary cap 4 to provide atraverse motion necessary for winding up a yarn B in even layers on ayarn collecting tube 6' of metal, wood, fiber or other suitable materialpositioned within the housing 4. A tube support 8 is locked bya setscrew 9 to the drive sleeve or shaft 5 to rotate therewith and toloosely support the yarn collecting tube 6. The driving unit Aisprovided to form a driving connection between the drive sleeve or shaft5 and the tube 6 whereby the collecting tube may be rotated andreciprocated vertically. The drive unit A is the inventive feature ofthe apparatus and will be described in greater detail hereinafter. Acontinuous yarn B is fed to and wound up upon the tube 6 in even layersto form a yarn package '7 as the tube 6 is both rotated and reciprocatedvertically within the cap 4.

As shown in the drawings, the drive unit A comprises a hub 15 having adivided rim structure consisting of separate rim sections 16, 16extending around the hub 15 whereby gaps are left between the rimsections. The hub 15 is locked to the drive sleeve or shaft 5 mentionedabove by set screw 19. A plurality of resilient rings 21, 21, such asrubber O-rings, are positioned in side by side relationship over the rimsections 16, 16 of the hub 15. As seen in Figure 1, end plates 25, 25'are fitted over the drive sleeve 5 and over the shoulders 24, 24 of hub15. The plates 25, 25' are held in position on the hub 15 by rivets 26,26 or other suitable securing means, which extend through and connectthe plates to lock them in position.

The rivets 26, 26 which retain the end plates 25, 25' in position on thehub 15 lie atop the resilient rings 21, 21 and extend through the gapsbetween the rim sections 16, 16. The rivets lie slightly below the lineof curvature assumed by the peripheries of the rim sections 16, 16whereby the resilient rings 21, 21 are depressed within the gaps toretain the rings in place or position on the rim sections 16, 16 (seeFig. 3). As seen in Fig. l, the plates 25, 25 extend beyond the rimperipheries to pre vent the rings from sliding off the rim sectionsduring rotation.

When the cap and tube winding assembly is stationary, the resilientrings 21, 21 are out of true driving engagement with the inner surfaceof the tube 6 positioned thereover (Fig. 1). Sufiicient contact,however, is present between the rings and the inner surface of the tubeto initially rotate the tube as the winding apparatus is brought tonormal operative speed. This contact mentioned above is not sufiicient,however, to rotate the tube when a load is placed upon the cap and tubeapparatus. As the rpm. and the centrifugal force of the drive sleeve 5and tube drive unit A are increased, the resilient rings 21, 21 expandfrom their initial position and assume the dotted line position asindicated in Figure 3. The rings 21, 21 are thereby forced against theinner surface of tube 6 to provide a gripping connection between thedriven hub 15 and the tube 6 which connection is strong enough to rotatethe tube when a load is applied to the winding assembly.

Since the plates are secured by rivets 26, 26, the plates.

may easily be removed from the hub 15 to replace the rings 21, 21 shouldthey become worn.

It is to be understood that changes may be made with respect to theabove described apparatus without depart-f ing from the spirit and scopeof the invention,

,aeazare Lelaim:

A drive assembly for a yarn collecting tube comprising a drive shaft, ahub aflixed to the shaft, a rim structure for the hub consisting ofspaced-apart rim sections whereby algap is provided between each rimsection, a plurality of rubber O-rings positioned over the rim sectionswhich rings lie out of driving contact with the inner wall of a yarncollecting tube positioned over the hub when the assembly is stationarybut which expand upon rotation of the assembly to grip the tube wall toform a driving connection between the hub and the collecting tube, hub,

end plates positioned over the drive shaft and aflixed to the hub whichplates extend beyond the peripheries of the rim sections, and means forretaining the end plates and the rings in place, said retaining meansoverlying the rubber rings and extending through the rim gaps in a planewhich is below the line of curvature as assumed by the peripheries ofthe rim sections whereby the rubber sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSBradley Jan. 10, 1860 Allen Sept. 6, 1904 Cunnifr' Sept. 13, 1910 Gauntet al a- Mar. 31, 1925 Brenzinger Aug. 13,1929 Johnson June 7, 1932Roadley Dec. 27, 1938 Blount May 10, 1949 Dunlap Feb. '2, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS Italy Jan. 10, 1939

